From the inside looking in

Why would anyone want to be part of a group of people like us? Ok so just to clear this up straight away, this isn’t going to be a long, serious explanation about why you should be part of a church plant. If that’s what you’re after, there are plenty of really good blogs and sites such as www.ukchurchplanting.org which have loads of resources and vids by guys such as Matt Hatch, David Stroud, Andy Moyles and the likes. You should probably also check out www.thebroadcast.org.uk so David Capener (who happens to be leading the Belfast church plant – Redeemer Central, that I’m involved in) doesn’t feel left out – oh yeah, and it’s quite a good read too! This is just a very brief blog about what I see and think people see in the Belfast Church Plant – Redeemer Central.

One of the great strengths I see in Redeemer Central is the outworking of community. We are a bunch of people who actually genuinely like each other! Even if we weren’t all planting this church together I think we’d get on with each other. Here’s a group of people most of whom didn’t know each other 8 months ago! True friendship, care and concern for people is rare and we know we are truly blessed.

We are all very different, with different likes and dislikes and I’m not saying we don’t rub each other up the wrong way every so often but then again what family doesn’t? But it’s actually fun! As Leah (one of the church plant team all the way from Canadia) says “it’s about doing life together”. We do stuff together, go places together, eat and drink together on a regular basis. I’ve never done that with ‘church’ friends before and I must say it feels good!

Hey, it’s not all sweetness and light though. For some of the guys there have been some big sacrifices that have had to be made and some of the group have faced some pretty big challenges in their personal lives since committing to the church plant; but knowing that you are not alone, that you have the rest of the group standing there with you really does make a difference.

Church planting definitely isn’t the easy option. You are out there on the enemy’s radar. If you don’t like surprises and challenges then it probably isn’t for you, but if you’re up for changing peoples preconceived ideas about church, want to get to know new people and have a desire to see communities changed, then maybe, just maybe, being part of a church plant is what you’re looking for.

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